Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Highland Coronach

Traditional

“Highland Coronach” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 159 1843 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

I'll wake it no more

By Strath-Fillan's blue fountain,

By Achray's lonely shore,

Or Benledi's high mountain—

No more wake the sound

Of the hunter's bold bugle;

For in death's narrow mound

Lies my loved Coilantugal!

How oft has that horn

To the chase hailed his coming,

At the first break of morn,

Ere the bee raised its humming;

Ere the maid, blythe of mood,

To the ewe-bught was wending,—

While each spray of the wood

With the dew-drops was bending.

When the fox from the shade

Of the pine-wood was peeping;

When the deer through the glade

In the grey dawn was leaping;

When the mist of the hills

From the sun-rise was flying;

And no sound—save the rills

And the wild breezes sighing—

Then—oh, then—the far cry

Of his deep-baying beagle,

From her eyrie on high

How it startled the eagle!

Roused the stag from his rest

In the glen of green braiken—

But no more its loud quest

Coilantugal shall waken!

Ay! now may his hounds

In the paddock lie idle,

And the steed roam his bounds

Unrestrained by the bridle;

The proud pibroch may blow,

But its notes shall not cheer him—

O'er his breast the brown roe

May leap wild and not fear him!

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. Historical text published in The Book of Scottish Song (1843); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Book of Scottish Song (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw, “Highland Coronach”

Every contribution in this 1843 anthology predates modern copyright terms by more than a century; any contributor died at least 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide (life+70 terms expired no later than 2020).

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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